Editor’s note: This is fairly late because, well, I’m a busy guy. But I think it deserves space and praise.

The merits of Numero Group’s mission, the compiling and reissuing of obscure soul, are apparent. The burning question in my mind, however, is how bright an idea is it to drag these performers out of obscurity, and thrust them into the limelight. Reports from the label’s first Eccentric Soul Revue performance in Chicago earlier this year garnered rave reports. But after seeing their show at the 9:30 Club, I’d say the reality is slightly different.

First, let me be clear that the music was beyond reproach. Sparkling, soaring, pristine harmonies and rhythms. Soul that mends, and strengthens. Something almost as remarkable (and taken for granted these days) was the sheer ecstasy these performers felt for their music, and the art of performance itself. The energy exuded by all performers was undeniable.

But the old-school approach sometimes had its missteps. I’m not prone to being overly politically correct, but even I was having a few problems with some of the vaguely condescending “tips” about how the guys should handle the girls after they get upset, among other things. These sorts of themes are far from gone in today’s music, but the delivery was quite different: intimate,and inescapably jarring. These sorts of things are a fascinating window into the nature of stage shows in ages past, but at times the proceedings lost their sheen as a primary source of sociocultural anthropology, and fell into plain datedness.

Soul as a genre is something laden with emotion, probably moreso than many other styles of music. It is suffused with emotion and experience, in particular the black experience. It is no surprise, then, that the majority of songs from the night focused on either race or relationships. And in some minor way, though you never question the authenticity of these experiences in the music, you eventually bear some fatigue from hearing the same themes over again. These are all minor quibbles though. In the bigger picture, the quality and vitality of the show rendered these concerns a mere postscript to the night.

JC Brooksis the young buck of the revue: combination hype man, emcee, band leader and solid performer all wrapped up in one strapping package. Aggressive moves and vocals paired with startling range. Immensely talented, but his performance could benefit from a bit more diversity, as opposed to constantly pushing the dial to 11. Brooks and his band the Uptown Sound were in many ways the show’s backbone and sinew. Brooks segued between acts, sung backing vocals, and filled the gap between performers with continuous music (even performing their original “Baltimore Is The New Brooklyn”). Uptown also served as the backing band for each of the 3 Twinight acts of the night, and frankly did a great job, displaying their tight cohesion as a unit, solo chops, and flat-out stamina.

After a bit of warming up by Brooks & the Uptown, Renaldo Domino was the first Twinight performer to take the stage. The most subtle of the night’s acts, he let his music do the talking, aside from some extended soft-spoken narrative, and background for some of his hits like “Not Too Cool To Cry.” His mix of silky-smooth crooning (and solid falsetto), unpretentious demeanor, and humble gratitude made his set potentially the most future-proofed.

The Notations were as crisp and bright aesthetically as they were musically, clad in matching bright yellow suits. It is unfortunate that their stage banter have aged the least gracefully (see above). Aside from that, they were likely the most stimulating act of the night, deftly delivering harmonies that resonate straight through to your core, and not a missed note among them. Though Cliff Curry claimed to have a rough voice due to illness that evening, it all flowed like sonic honey to me. After years of acclimating myself to more and more dissonant sounds, there’s nothing quite like the consonant beauty of 4-part vocal harmonies.

Syl Johnson was the unpredictable firecracker of the evening, his heart clearly filled with equal parts soulful ache and punk fire. Every bit as explosive as I’ve read, his performance was riotous and wild with a side of the absurd as he sported a Megadeth shirt under his blazer. His anecdotes between songs were a bit incoherent (ramblings that took shots at the recording industry, the nature of fame, and payback in the form of royalties from RZA and Wu-Tang Clan), but his sung vocals were crystal clear. Johnson’s segue into single “Is It Because I’m Black?” was gloriously aggressive, politically uncomfortable (if not incorrect), and somehow jocularly confrontational. Johnson even went so far as to drop a line from Wu-Tang’s “Shame On A Nigga” at the appropriate time on his cash-cow sampled track “Different Strokes.” The night closed with a rousing rendition of the Stones’ classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” with all the night’s talent joining in.

Minor missteps aside, the most telling metrics of the show’s success were the roaring applause from a relatively sparse (less than quarter capacity) crowd, and seeing who I believe to be Numero co-founder Ken Shipley, decked to the nines in a full suit, grinning ear to ear while bouncing and singing along to the music at the unique night’s end. It is pretty clear that Numero Group is one of those rare altruistic enterprises in music, done for the right reasons, and for the right people.

I WAS MARRIED TO LASALLE MATTHEWS FOR 13 YEARS AND REGRET TO HEAR ABOUT HIS PASSING. IM ORIGINALLY A NEW JERSEYAN UNTIL I MOVED TO CHI TOWN TO MARRY LASALLE IN 1971. THE SONG IM STILL HERE WAS JUMPING.CLIFF SANG THE SUNG LIKE NOBODY COULD.WHEN I HEAR THE SONG TODAY IT SOUNDS LIKE YESTERDAY.I CAN STILL HEAR (TINY) IN THE BACK GROUND.THIS IS A GROUP LONG OVER DUE THAT SHOULD BE ON THE TOP.I GOT A CHANCE TO PERFORM WITHONE TIME….CURTIS MAYFIELDS BAND AND IT WAS AWESOME…IVE BEEN IN THE STUDIO ON MANY RECORDINGS. CLIFF AND BOBBY DISERVE IT AND WISH LASALLE (TINY) WAS STILL HERE……TINA MATTHEWS KUPOLATI

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